Former Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams has been announced as a manager for next month’s Futures Game. It’s worth noting that Trenton manager Tony Franklin will also be involved in the event, serving as a coach for the U.S. Team. Here’s the Williams announcement from Major League Baseball…

Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett, who spent his entire 21-year career with the Kansas City Royals, will manage the U.S. Team and five-time American League All-Star outfielder Bernie Williams will lead the World Team in the 2012 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on Sunday, July 8th at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which is now in its 14th year, features the top Minor League prospects competing in a nine-inning contest as part of Taco Bell All-Star Sunday. The game will begin at 5:00 p.m. (ET)/4:00 p.m. (CT) and can be viewed live on ESPN2, ESPN2 HD and MLB.com. SiriusXM, the Official Satellite Radio Partner of Major League Baseball, will provide play-by-play coverage of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on MLB Network Radio (XM channel 89) in addition to SiriusXM’s other comprehensive live coverage from Kansas City. The game will also be available to SiriusXM subscribers on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smart phones and mobile devices and online at SiriusXM.com. Taco Bell All-Star Sunday is the first of three days of All-Star events at Kauffman Stadium, culminating with the 83rd All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 10th.

Brett, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, is the only Royal who is enshrined in Cooperstown. A second round pick in the 1971 First-Year Player Draft, Brett hit .305 with 317 home runs, 1,595 RBI and 665 doubles while leading the Royals’ 1985 World Series Championship squad. He was the A.L. Most Valuable Player in 1980 after after winning a batting title with a .390 average, which was the highest in Baseball since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Brett, who also posted 24 home runs and a career-high 118 RBI in 1980, finished in the top three in MVP voting three additional times. He was a 13-time A.L. All-Star, representing the Royals in the Midsummer Classic each year from 1976-1988. Brett was a three-time A.L. batting champion (1976, 1980, 1990), becoming the first player to win the batting title in three different decades. He is one of 28 members of baseball’s 3,000 hit club, and his 3,154 hits rank 15th all-time. Brett hit .340 with nine home runs and 19 RBI in six League Championship Series and hit .373 in his two World Series. He won the Gold Glove for A.L. third basemen in 1985. George is now in his 19th year as Vice President of Baseball Operations with the Royals, and his number 5 was retired by the club in 1994, when he entered the club’s Hall of Fame.

Williams, who spent his entire 16-year career with the Yankees, hit .297 with 287 home runs and 1,257 RBI, and was a member of four World Series Championship teams (1996, 1998-2000). The San Juan, Puerto Rico native signed with the Yankees in 1985 at age 17, and made his Major League debut in 1991. Williams, who won the A.L. batting title in 1998 after hitting .339, posted six straight seasons of at least 20 home runs from 1996-2001, including a career-best 30 home runs and 121 RBI in 2000. The switch-hitter hit .321 during 41 League Championship Series games and he was named the 1996 ALCS MVP after batting .474 with two home runs, three doubles and six RBI in the five-game series. He is a four-time A.L. Gold Glove winner (1997-2000) and he won a Silver Slugger Award in 2002. Bernie ranks first all-time in the Postseason with 80 RBI, second with 128 hits, 22 home runs, 29 doubles and 83 runs, and third with 121 games played. In Yankees history, Williams ranks third in doubles (449), fifth in hits (2,336), sixth in runs (1,366), games played (2,076) and RBI (1,257), and seventh in home runs (287).

Rosters for the 2012 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game will be announced on Thursday afternoon.